BOXING

BOXING; Klitschko Knocked Out; Spinks Survives

By MIKE KATZ

Published: April 11, 2004

LAS VEGAS, April 10—
It's all relative. A heavyweight title match figured to be an anticlimax Saturday night when a pair of left-handed welterweights, fighting for the undisputed 147-pound championship, knocked each other down in the final two rounds before Cory Spinks, son of the former heavyweight champion Leon and nephew of Michael, defeated Zab Judah in a 12-round unanimous decision.

But then, in an even wilder performance, Lamon Brewster got up off the canvas in the fourth round before ending, for now, the Klitschko brothers' dream of holding heavyweight titles at the same time. Brewster stopped Wladimir Klitschko, who had been a heavy favorite early in the week, at the end of the fifth round.

Brewster dedicated his victory and the World Boxing Organization title to the memory of his longtime trainer, Bill Slayton, who died in October.

A right hand put him down, wobbly and off his feet for the first time in a 30-2 career that has included 27 knockouts.

''I proved an American doesn't lay down,'' said Brewster, a light underdog by the start of the fight. ''He was going to have to kill me to beat me.''

Klitschko, 42-3 with 39 knockouts, was taken to a hospital for a precautionary examination. His eyes were glazed when Referee Robert Byrd stopped the bout between the fifth and sixth rounds. Klitschko, who had taken a standing eight count when the ropes held him up earlier in the fifth, was being battered on the ropes when the bell ended the round. He pitched forward and fell. Byrd helped him up, but then ruled the fight over because Klitschoko could not take care of himself.

''I tried to get a response out of him, but there was none,'' said Byrd, who was working his 65th world title bout.

Klitschko's big brother, Vitali, will fight Corrie Sanders of South Africa on April 24 for the vacant World Boxing Council heavyweight title. Sanders is the South African who knocked out Wladimir Klitschko in the second round on March 8, 2003.

Small world.

With his victory, Brewster joins Chris Byrd, the International Boxing Federation heavyweight titleholder, as the first cousins to simultaneously hold heavyweight titles. Byrd, who will defend his title next Saturday at Madison Square Garden against Andrew Golota, is a third cousin of Brewster's.

Cory Spinks was a reminder that brothers have been heavyweight champions before -- his father, Leon, and his uncle Michael held the undisputed title, but not at the same time.

The welterweight title had a pretty good family tree that Judah, moving up from a couple of titles at 140 pounds, was trying to climb.

Cory Spinks had won the title by upsetting Ricardo Mayorga, who had upset Vernon Forrest, who had upset Shane Mosley, who had upset Oscar De La Hoya.

This was an upset, too. Spinks, the underdog, survived a last-minute knockdown. The two left-handers were exchanging punches, but Judah's right hook landed solidly and Spinks went down in a heap with 19 seconds remaining in the bout. For some reason, Judah did not press his advantage, and turned away.

Even another knockdown would probably not have helped Judah. Spinks, who scored a flash knockdown in the 11th round, wound up winning on official scorecards from three Las Vegas judges, 114-112 twice, and 116-111.

''I got a little relaxed and careless,'' Spinks (33-2 with 10 knockouts) said about being dropped. ''He hit me with a good shot.''

''I think I could've done more, especially in the early rounds,'' said Judah, 30-2 with 22 knockouts. The other loss on his record was to Kostya Tszyu in a match for the undisputed 140-pound title in 2001. ''But I thought I still did enough.''

Judah said the 11th-round knockdown, when he was off balance and stepping back, was bogus. Spinks landed a left hand and put Judah on the canvas, but he was not really hurt, he said.

Judah had trouble at the start figuring out how to fight Spinks, the taller fighter.

He could not move forward to get inside, but succeeded by moving laterally.

He was taking a beating again, though, after the 11th-round knockdown and through most of the 12th before he surprised Spinks with a short right hand.

''I should not have stopped after I knocked him down,'' said Judah. ''I have no complaints. I felt I did O.K.''